Sandcastles in the Sand
Recap Future Ted explains how much Robin Scherbatsky has changed since her days as a Canadian teen pop star (as was discovered in ). At MacLaren's Pub, the gang notices how dressed up Robin is. They compliment her stunning cleavage, then ask the occasion and Robin announces her first boyfriend, Simon, plans to catch up for a drink. Simon was also a famous teen star, fronting a rock band and winning Mr Teen Winnipeg in a beauty contest. After some Canada themed virginity jokes, Robin tells the gang about Simon's cruel break up method: He waited until she had loaded all of his band's equipment into their van, then told her he was leaving her for Louise Marsh, because her parents had just installed a pool. When Robin goes to leave, Simon tells her she still has one piece of equipment left to load into the van. The gang is disappointed to learn she loaded it, despite just being cruelly dumped. The group agrees that when exes meet up for the first time after ending the relationship, there is always a clear winner and a clear loser. They begin to tally points for who will "win" Robin and Simon's reunion. Robin receives two from Barney for her cleavage, one from Ted for Simon still living with his mother, one from Lily because Simon never became a rock star, and a final one Marshall initially gives to Simon because he now works at a water park, but gives the point to Robin when she tells him the water park doesn't have a wave pool. The gang is convinced Robin will clearly win. Robin says there is no way Simon could come back from a 5-0 deficit, unless he somehow got more attractive. Simon walks into the bar, and it is immediately clear that Robin is the winner: Simon is balding, overweight, and wearing clothes that weren't even in style back in the 80's. While the whole group looks at Simon with disdain and prepare for Robin to realise she's the winner Robin instead reverts back to being 16 again, giggling uncontrollably and exclaiming "Oh my god!" when Simon says "Hey babe...". After Robin's reunion with Simon, the group retires to the apartment and begins criticizing the way Robin handled the meeting. Several flashbacks follow, including Simon calling Robin "old", his refusal to pay $4 for a beer (pulling one out of his cargo pants instead), bragging about his job at the water park as being more important than Robin's journalism, and his claim that his band, The Foreskins, are about to take off (just as he did when he and Robin were teenagers). The meeting ends when Barney asks how the two met. Simon says he was in her music video. When Barney notes he's not in Let's Go To The Mall, Simon clarifies that he was "in her other one". Barney bolts out of the bar when he realises there's a second Robin Sparkles video out there somewhere. In the apartment, Barney initially tries Googling and kindly asks Robin to just hand the video over. She refuses and he vows to not eat or sleep until he finds it. When Robin attempts to defend her actions around Simon, the group discusses how being around someone from your past can cause you to revert back to the person you were when you knew them then - a phenomenon Marshall dubs "revertigo." Marshall and Ted tell Robin and Barney that Lily suffers from this more than anyone else; to prove it, they have Lily invite her high school friend, Michelle, to hang out with them. Michelle, who is almost done with her dissertation to get her Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, later states that the proper psychological term for revertigo is "associative regression". The group is hanging out MacLaren's the next day when Robin tells them Simon came to her apartment the night before, claiming that breaking up with her was the biggest mistake of his life. He asks her out on a date, which she happily accepts. The gang is disappointed. The next night, after a show with only Robin in attendance, Simon demands that Robin play a demo of his band's new album on the news the following day at work. The news agrees to play Murder Train over images of dogs in need of adoption. Robin explains it got all the dogs adopted because the song made people think the network was going to kill them. Michelle, Lily's high school friend arrives. She is African-American and Lily, upon seeing her, immediately begins speaking in the most unrealistic, but highly amusing, "urban" style imaginable, as does Michelle. The group continues to discuss other members' "revertigo", which also includes Ted and his high school friend, Punchy, who challenge each other to fights the minute they see each other. After another show, Simon once again breaks up with Robin as she loads his equipment into the back of his van — and once again tells her it's because Louise Marsh's parents have installed a jacuzzi. Robin tells the rest of the group back at the bar. They all do their best to console her, but are ultimately unsuccessful. They all eventually have to leave one by one. Robin remains in the bar drinking alone and becoming emotional, until Barney arrives to complain about not being able to find her music video. Upon realizing Robin is crying, Barney asks what happened. Initially, he finds it funny that Robin got dumped for the same reason twice, but when she continues crying he rushes to console her. He tells her she doesn't need to be 16 again because now she has become the most amazing person he knows (besides himself). Robin asks him if he'd like to come back to her place, whispering something to him to make him say yes. They sit nervously on the couch before Barney asks "Should I just put it in?". Robin says yes and Barney puts the music video tape into the VCR. Robin reveals her second music video to him - her "big artistic follow up" called Sandcastles In The Sand. It was not a hit single. Barney loves the video, making snarky comments throughout. They watch the video over and over, with Robin gradually sitting closer and closer to Barney. As Future Ted narrates "...until finally, they stopped watching...", Barney and Robin have begun making out. Continuity *The gang found out about Robin's career as Robin Sparkles in . *Ted sports another T-shirt; his support of the Indians is referenced in . *Robin whispers in Barney's ear, before they go to her place to watch the "Sandcastles in the Sand" video, the way Barney does to her in when she asks him what he says to women to get them to go home with him. Future References (Contains Spoilers) *Ted's support of Cleveland sports teams is referenced again in , , and , among others. *The song "Murder Train" is heard again in , , , and . *Barney refers to recording his and Robin's hook-up, despite the fact that it took place in her apartment, in several future episodes, including and . However, it is possible that Barney carries secret recording equipment for when he sleeps with someone outside his apartment. *Robin's friendship with Alan Thicke is established, and is referenced in several episodes, including The Rough Patch, , and . *Ted's "revertigo", or associative regression, being triggered when he is around Punchy is seen again in Glitter and . *In , Barney tells Ted to trust that he won't make a move on his crush Maggie despite the fact that their "bro-lationship has suffered its setbacks in this area", likely referring to how he broke the Bro Code by sleeping with Robin. *When Barney relates how he hooked up with a girl with "magic lady bits" in , he mentions meeting her in the bar before going home with her, and Robin assumes he was talking about her. As seen here, they do indeed go home and sleep together after talking at the bar. * Robin's fixation with Simon is referenced again in P.S. I Love You, where Barney suspects he was the object of the unhealthy obsession she developed when she was young and the inspiration for the song "P.S. I Love You". *When Ted argues that Barney has broken the Bro Code in the past in , he doesn't mention him sleeping with Robin. *Simon is revealed to have gotten his act together, and gotten engaged to Louise Marsh, in , which devastates Robin and compels her to steal their wedding cake. * In , a piano version of "Sandcastles in the Sand" plays as Robin walks down the aisle during her and Barney's wedding. Gallery Images.jpg|Robin and Barney's reactions to seeing Simon. Index.jpg|Robin introduces the gang to Simon. Simon.png|Simon's appearance in Robin Sparkles' music video. Sandcastles in the sand.png|Simon and Robin at the beach in her music video. Barney-and-robin.jpg|Robin and Barney watch the Sandcastles in the Sand music video Sandcastles.jpg Foreskins.jpg Bro4ever=).jpg Michelle.03.jpg Michelle.02.jpg Michelle.01.jpg swarkles.jpg|Barney & Robin woajhhhh.jpg|They are watching Sandcastle in the sand Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *When Punchy is at The apartment and he and Ted start fighting, Ted says "I'm sorry about your dad". Punchy's response, "Yeah, it was a real shock..." seems to imply that he died. However, Punchy's dad was present at his wedding in . **It's likely that it was a serious medical condition (e.g. stroke or heart attack) which Punchy's dad recovered from eventually. *Although Alan Thicke guest stars as himself in the episode, the closing titles credit him as "Mr. Scherbatsky". **In the context of the music video he's playing Robin's father, so this is at most a half-goof. Allusions and Outside References *Barney makes two video game references, once when he says 'Finish Him!', and shortly after, when he makes the sound of Pac-Man's death animation. *Barney also references the movie Grease, by saying, "Tell me more, tell me more, like, did he have a car?" *Simon expects that his band will be as big as Crash Test Dummies. *Barney references Canadian television series Degrassi. *Barney euphemistically asks Robin if she "rode his Simon's Zamboni", an ice resurfacing vehicle. *The "Sandcastles in the Sand" video included cameo appearances by '80s stars Tiffany and Alan Thicke. *In the music video Alan Thicke is reading "Canada Today", a spoof of the newspaper "USA Today." *Lily's best friend in high school is revealed to named Michelle. Alyson Hannigan's character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer had been best friends with Buffy played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. **Alyson Hannigan played a character named Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie franchise, as well. Music *Murder Train - The Foreskins *Dazzey Duks - Duice *Sandcastles in the Sand - Robin Sparkles Other Notes Guests *James Van Der Beek - Simon *Chris Romanski - Punchy * - Michelle * - Herself (playing Catholic school girl) *Alan Thicke - Himself (playing Robin Sparkles's father) Reception * Omar G at gave the episode an A. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/sandcastles_in_the_sand.php * gave the episode an A rating. http://www.avclub.com/articles/sandcastles-in-the-sand,12935/ * gave the episode a 9 out of 10 rating. http://tv.ign.com/articles/868/868469p1.html * The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 9.5 out of 10 stars. "Alan Thicke - one of Canada's greatest!" References External Links * * es:Castillos en la arena Category:Robin Sparkles Category:Episodes Category:Season 3